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Sample
Assignments/Exercises
(Expressivist)
Below are the assignments/exercises we placed under the
expressivist camp:
Descriptive Writing Exercise
This exercise could work in both English 110 and 111,
but it would probably be most useful in 110. I use this
exercise in conjunction with Samuel Scudder's essay "Look at
Your Fish" in Ourselves and Our Lives. During class,
I have students go outside and find an object they can bring
back into the classroom. They then write for about ten
minutes describing in detail the object they selected (we
have already talked about descriptive writing in class)
without naming the object. I tell them they have to describe
the object clearly and well enough so that someone who has
not seen the object will be able to tell what it is from
only the description. After they're done writing, I have
them exchange papers with another student, and they have to
guess what object the other person is describing. They also
discuss how the writer could have described the object more
clearly, such as adding more description about the texture,
smell or color. This exercise helps prepare students for
writing a major essay assignment that requires a lot of
description.
A twist to this exercise would be to have students
describe how they feel about the object. Students could
write about what emotions the object evokes for them. For
example, an orange leaf on the ground may remind a student
about when his or her grandfather died. The student could
write about how the leaf makes him or her feel.
Major Essay 1 (English 110)
General Information:
You have read essays in which the authors have
discussed personal experiences that changed their lives.
Some of these experiences were initially negative, yet they
helped the author achieve something extraordinary in the
end. Other experiences have dealt with relationships to the
land, family, or community. Through them, the authors have
come to a deeper understanding of themselves and the world
around them.
Write a three to four page essay on an experience that
you have had which has changed your life or your view of the
world in some way. When writing the essay, use vivid details
to describe this experience for the reader.
Specific Assignment:
Narrate and comment on a learning experience that
changed your life or your attitudes in some way. Use vivid
details (and dialogue if appropriate) so your readers can
see, hear, and feel what happened. Be sure to identify other
people who were involved. Let readers know how the
experience affected you immediately and over time.
This essay must be typed using MLA format (refer to
WRR). The essay should be 3-4 typed pages, double spaced,
and using 10-12 CPI letter size. Remember, a late draft will
result in a reduction of one letter grade. No paper will be
accepted over five days past the due date.
Purpose:
The purpose of the first major essay is to focus on a
particular experience in your life, and describe it using
detail and organization.
Audience:
The audience for your paper will be your instructor and
other NDSU classmates.
Evaluation Criteria:
Your essay must have a clear thesis, details supporting
this thesis, and an organization which flows smoothly from
beginning to end. The paper must be 3-4 typed pages using
MLA format (refer to WRR).
Major Essay 2 (English 110)
General Information:
Families or communities often have turning points that
change people's lives. To find a workable subject for this
essay, interview family members or neighbors to discover
significant events or trends that affected the life of
someone in our family or the course of events in your
community. Try to discover how broader events or trends
(local, state, and national) contributed to the change and
what impact this change had on members of the family or the
community.
Examples:
A family member might have immigrated from another
country. Why did he or she leave the home country? What
adjustments did that person have to make? How did life
change for better or for worse?
A family member who served in a war or military
conflict. How did this experience affect him or her? How did
it affect other members of the family? How did it affect the
community?
Did your family lose or sell a family farm or business?
Did a parent change jobs, or did a family home burn down?
What was the struggle like? What changes were made? How has
the family coped?
Specific Assignment (Choose One):
1. Research and analyze how a significant event
or experience affected a member (or members) of your family
or community. Interview family or community members and
gather information from a variety of sources: family
letters, diaries, photo albums, community and state
histories, books and articles about the event, or similar
events or trends in the community, state, and nation at the
time. Provide specific details and examples about the event
or change or experience that will provide a coherent context
for a generation of readers who will not know the person,
place, and time in which the even occurred.
2. Research and analyze some societal change
during the last 20 or 30 years (e.g., the changing roles of
the sexes in your home town, the change in utility of a high
school education in your home town. Determine what people
were involved with the change and what major events were
caused or affected by the change. Provide specific details
and examples to make the change clear to members of the next
generation. Then, do one of the following: analyze (a) why
it occurred or (b) how it has affected you and some larger
segment of society.
Purpose:
The purpose of this assignment is to connect your
experiences with the world around you and show that the
changes your are writing about are important to the people
with whom you are trying to connect. Don't just present the
facts, justify them.
Audience:
The audience for your paper will be you instructor and
other NDSU classmates
Evaluation Criteria:
Your essay must have a clear thesis, details supporting
this thesis, and an organization which flows smoothly from
beginning to end. You must connect your ideas and
experiences with those of the people you interviewed and the
research you have done. You must properly cite the ideas of
others in your paper using MLA format (refer to WRR). The
paper must be 4-5 typed pages using MLA guidelines.
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